The practice’s response to this competition was the creation of a new model for a mixed community, intended to be a place for living, working and leisure, with the planned development of a centre specialising in media, e-business and bio-sciences. This flexible strategic urban development plan was designed to adapt to rapid growth, in particular, providing an extensive, integrated transport system. The response attempted to frame an answer to the question of how to balance ideals of an exciting and comfortable low energy living and working environment with the constraints of land use and climate that exist in Singapore.
The careful linking of the mass and light transit systems with buses and car use combined with the expectations of the residential and commercial mix underpinned the framework for urban density across the site. The framework created cooler shaded active streets that encouraged walking.
The plan included 4 million square metres of mixed-use space, comprising five districts adjacent to a central ecological park. This leisure and relaxation space was to constitute the “lung” of the community. The park served as an antidote against the hot, humid climate, while also providing water recycling facilities.
Our ambition was to create a real-time development model on the Web, which would simultaneously, and with different levels of access, allow designers, local authorities and citizens to assess a series of urban design issues, in relation to the environment, energy, transport, mix of uses, cost, etc. It was also envisaged that this model would offer a three-dimensional real-time visual display of the project from street level, to help understand the evolution of the site and allow maximum flexibility to accommodate change over time. As the demographics, economy or transport systems change, the masterplan could evolve intelligently and development and redevelopment could occur in a considered and controlled manner.
Team Jo-Anne Alldritt, Ler Bing Huan, James Finestone, Marco Goldschmied, Lennart Grut, Dennis Ho, Marcus Lee, Jon Mercer, Simon Williams-Gunn Nick Zervoglos, Lee Shu Zhen
